


Kill the Doctor

by SteeleStingray



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Foursome - F/F/M/M, Gay Sex, Healing, Het Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Sex, M/M, Multi, OT4, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Sex, Zack Fair Being Zack Fair, he's huge and capable of so much LOVE, i can't tag them all, mentions of experimentation, most kinds of sex, no Sephiroth sorry, though Shinra are still bastards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:48:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteeleStingray/pseuds/SteeleStingray
Summary: Zack Fair manages to survive his encounter with Shinra and takes up mercenary work with a local terrorist group in Midgar in hopes of paying back the company (and the people) who hurt so many...Aerith Gainsborough is falling in love with several harbored fugitives while being wanted by Shinra herself...Tifa Lockhart takes a chance on a man she remembers from the worst night of her life and is pulled into more of a mess than she bargained for when she and Barret created AVALANCHE......and Cloud Strife wakes up.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Tifa Lockhart
Comments: 99
Kudos: 145





	1. The Steel Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all,
> 
> I'm back again on my Final Fantasy kick! In the past, as a fan of this series I was very much in the Zack/Aerith and Cloud/Tifa corner (with no hate to others) but now that I'm older (and gayer) I have come to see the charm of an OT4 between these hot messes. So naturally I had to write about it.
> 
> For this fic, as the canon divergence, I'm imagining that the Jenova Project was an abject failure so Sephiroth/Meteor are not a threat in this plot. But a lot of things will stay the same from the game and the remake; I'll just kind of pick and choose as I feel like it haha!
> 
> Finally, I cannot guarantee anything about this fic. I set the chapter count at 20 but it will probably go longer. I can't promise weekly updates or when I'll finish this but I WILL finish this. Also I can't guarantee that you, the reader, will like this but that's ok. Because I'm writing this for ME, to satisfy my own selfish desires, and everyone else is just along for the ride ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

It was rare that it rained in Midgar.

But the planet seemed to want to offer him some soothing grace after putting him through so much hell. Though it was a little harder to drag Cloud through the tepid mud and he hated the feeling of cold, wet clothing, Zack thanked the sky as water ran off of him in rust-colored rivulets. Aside from washing off all the blood, cleaning the dirt from his injuries, the steady downpour washed away their obvious tracks. Any further Shinra battalions that wanted to fuck with him would be hard pressed to find him.

He tried to remain as optimistic as usual even though the buster sword felt heavy enough to bury him and the city still seemed so far away…

Zack hoisted Cloud a little higher off the ground, Cloud’s head lolling helplessly, and Zack kissed his temple. No matter the temperature outdoors, Cloud’s body was always just a little too cool for Zack’s liking. “Almost there Cloud. We’re almost there. Get warm and dry, maybe find me some healing materia, yeah? Can’t let these good looks go to waste. Though...who knows? Some girls dig scars.” At this point, Zack was shaping up to have more scars than smooth skin, what with how that Shinra squad had tried to riddle him with bullets. “I know someone really great who can patch us up and give me an honest answer. That is...if she’s not upset with me for being away for so long.”

_ Years and years lost to... _

Cloud exhaled softly by way of response. 

It was better than nothing; better than the nights when Zack woke in the cold sweat of panic, fearing that Cloud, sweet Cloud, had stopped breathing in his sleep. Zack would carefully tilt Cloud’s head, finding no resistance, and rest his fingers just above Cloud’s mouth. He could only relax again when he felt the soft, infinitesimal heat of Cloud’s breath. 

“I hope she’s not upset.”

She and Cloud were the only ones that kept him going. He thought of her light, easy smiles, those slim, unmarked arms wrapping around him and holding him tight, the way she did not walk so much as...dance and float and skip, and her eyes. Gods save him, those  _ eyes _ . The thought of looking into them again gave him another small burst of energy.

“Almost back, Aerith. Wait for me.”

It took ages to get through Midgar while on the run. 

Avoiding the Shinra scanners meant no public transportation and avoiding the roads, which had ID checks every few meters. No further hitchhiking for the two of them, Zack had to carry Cloud through what few back alley paths he knew. Through the dusty suburbs and shuttered businesses, using the massive plate as his beacon. On occasion, when encountering other people fool enough to be out in a downpour, Zack’s friendly nature got him a nudge in the right direction from a jaded local and he only got in one fight, thankfully not with Shinra.

On one of their little side paths, Zack had set Cloud down for only a moment in order to clear a path and had turned back to see some masked punks prodding at Cloud’s blonde head, reaching for his pockets.

“Pretty boy with you?”

Zack could excuse thievery, having done his fair share on their trek to Midgar--pocket change, food, clothing--but he drew a hard and vicious line at messing with Cloud. He set down his sword, intent on teaching these bold bastards with his bare hands.

“He is.  _ Don’t touch him _ .”

Those slum rats looked at him with quick appraisal, taking in his torn uniform and battered body and the clear quality of his sword. Maybe they thought he was an easy target, weak and injured, because they smiled at his warning.

“We’ll be having that sword of yours then. Sell it for scrap, won’t we boys?”

A fatal mistake, one of them had taken hold of some of Cloud’s blond spikes and roughly shook his head. The limp helplessness of it gave Zack enough fire to forget his injuries. 

He laid all the punks out in thirty seconds flat and the remaining vestiges of adrenaline allowed him to pick Cloud up entirely off the ground as he dipped into their little side path. “Sorry about that Cloud. I know you don’t like being touched,” even though he was comatose, sometimes well-meaning people on their journey had patted him gently and Cloud had tensed, groaning like he was in pain; it tore Zack apart, “but I’ve got you now. And I have a feeling we’re almost there!”

Talking to Cloud kept him upbeat and positive, even if the final stretch took a little longer than he expected. He stumbled--once, twice--but did not do anything more than a moment’s pause. 

Zack feared that if he sat down, he would just...fall asleep and not wake up, his injuries and the cold of the rain taking him more gently than Shinra would.  _ Almost there _ , he murmured along with every passing breath. 

When he saw the church, Zack thought his heart would explode in his chest.

Though it was just as gray and dilapidated as the rest of the Midgar slums, there was something so calming and noble about the structure. With its gracefully carved arches and bright stained glass windows that still had most of their colorful panes intact, it was a beautiful beacon amongst the piles of stone and scrap metal. Moreover, he saw the familiar hole in the roof--never patched, as was the custom in the slums--and there was a feeling of elation, of coming home. It was proof that Zack Fair  _ had _ existed before Shinra had torn him apart and put him back together, that this church and Aerith and his tender feelings for her were not the fever dreams of a madman pumped full of mako. 

They were  _ real _ , he was  _ real _ , and he was here after so long.

Of course no one was around so late and in the rain dripping from the metal plate, so Zack made a mad dash through the open. Under the archway of the entrance, he paused for a moment to catch his breath, make sure they had not been seen or followed, and then kissed Cloud’s cold, wet forehead before he pushed the heavy door open with one boot. 

It was blissfully warm and dry inside the church; Zack could hear the rain on the roof but...somehow there were no leaks, save the massive hole his body had left in the ceiling years earlier. Aside from the steady patter of the rain, there was only the sound of his breathing and his boots on the old wooden floors. Motes of dust swirled gold in the light of the stained glass windows and, though the church looked old, abandoned, and in moderate disarray, Zack felt relief and safety soaking through him like magic.

The flowers were there too, blooming cheerfully in shades of yellow and white as if to mock the steel artifice of the rest of Midgar. 

“Pretty, isn’t it Cloud?” Zack sighed, setting Cloud’s limp body down on an upright pew. “Best kept secret in Midgar.” Though he was ready to sit down, Zack took the time to strip Cloud of his wet armor, boots, and sweater, checking him for any injuries. He had one hi-potion left--found just outside Kalm--and was saving it in case Cloud got injured. There wasn’t a scratch on him, thank the gods, and Zack shifted Cloud’s limbs so that he was curled up in the way he used to sleep when he was...himself. “Wish I had some fire materia to warm us up but...I think Aerith wouldn’t like us setting fire to her church.”

Cloud responded with a soft little huff of breath, though he calmed when Zack stroked the spikes on the side of his head. He was still charming, even with his personality gone and mind ruined and--

Zack had to stop and shook the thoughts from his head before something as cold and final as hopelessness crept into his heart.

Cloud would get better. He would come back to himself and smile at Zack again, his laugh soft and gaze almost adoring. Cloud would come back and be...just fine. He wouldn’t remember anything that those Shinra scientists had done to him. 

“We should get some beauty rest. Sound good?” Cloud closed his eyes obediently, his face even more youthful in sleep. Zack kissed Cloud’s cheek, unable to rest just yet.

He knew Aerith spent a lot of time in the church, keeping supplies and useful objects she’d found in the building, just in case someone in Sector Five would need it. Though the wood was warped and difficult to open without splintering, Zack put his shoulder into it, only breaking one hinge in the process. He wandered to the cavernous back rooms in search of anything that would make solid wood pews more comfortable and returned with some dusty tarps that had been folded in a back closet. 

Though frayed and older, flowers had been pressed between the sheets, leaving a lingering scent, much like the perfume that had always followed Aerith. Zack breathed in deep, giving Cloud the cleanest and most fragrant of them. 

“Don’t get spoiled now.” He laughed through his exhaustion as he tucked Cloud in and took up a spot between the pew and the massive door, his back resting against Angeal’s blade; if anyone tried to get to Cloud, they’d have to go through him. “The only reason you got the best ones is because…” His eyes were so heavy the moment he sat down, “...you kept...me going…”

Feeling safe and relaxed for the first time in years, Zack dreamed...

_ Hands _ . He felt them through his dreams.

The perfect temperature, smooth and gentle, like a healing balm over his tired, battered body, Zack melted into it. Never had a finer healing spell existed and he felt his lips upturn. All the power and money and prestige that Shinra had promised him were nothing in comparison to the heavenly feeling of Aerith Gainsborough’s hands on him. It was painful to open his eyes but...he did it; he had to make sure that it wasn’t a dream.

Though his vision was blurry--

Oh, but they were  _ green _ . Not like the glowing unnatural green of materia and mako, this green was all verdant hills and good food and fresh air. The kind of green that made Zack feel alive.

He breathed in deep.

“Zack?” 

His name spoken in that sweet voice was...so much better than when anyone else said it. His smile grew wider, his eyes focused, and he felt her hands as a tangible, heavy weight on him. “An angel?” His tongue barely moved, the words coming out slurred, but it had the wonderful effect of making her laugh.

“That line again?”

“It works, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” There was some deep, tender emotion in her voice and Zack closed his eyes, waiting for more healing magic before he moved again. It was Curaga--powerful, expensive stuff-- and it didn’t take long for Zack to feel well enough to open his eyes fully. “It  _ is _ you, Zack. I wondered if I was dreaming.”

It was Aerith. 

She had lost the teenage softness of her features, but her beauty was still unmistakeable, enough to break Zack’s heart. That heart-shaped face, those lips that always threatened a smile at the corners, that long, thick hair that was somewhere between auburn, chestnut, and dark brown, depending on the light. He drank her down like water.

Her cheeks were wet and the sight of tears hit him harder than if Aerith had slapped him in the face. He reached up and rubbed a thumb across the beautiful, smooth expanse of her cheek. He was so gentle; filled with so much mako, he did not want to risk pressing too hard and accidentally breaking her cheekbone.

“I wanted to come back sooner. But I couldn’t.” Shinra would not let him go. They wanted to keep him locked tight behind glass, submerged in bubbling mako and whatever other foul things the doctors had injected until he became something monstrous. “Sorry I made you wait so long, Aerith.” 

“It’s ok, I’m just...glad you’re safe. You  _ are _ safe, right?” Her eyes flicked to the church doors which were, thankfully, shut. 

“For now.” He wondered how vigorously Shinra would chase two forgotten test subjects. “But if they come again, I won’t let them touch you. I won’t let them  _ look _ at you.” The thought of those scientists getting their hands on Aerith had Zack feeling like his chest was filled with fire. “Not that torture.”

“ _ Zack _ ,” leaning forward, Aerith pressed her forehead against Zack’s, her hands resting lightly on his healing chest, “I could  _ feel _ you. Everyone said it was useless but...I knew. I knew you were still alive. I knew you’d come back.”

Zack tilted back his head and inhaled to keep from falling apart completely. Some renegade tears of his trickled into his hair. “ ‘Alive’ is a...stretch but…” a small part of him preferred the idea of death more than knowing what they had done to him and Cloud, “you kept me going. I was worried you would never find someone as handsome and charming as me.”

Aerith’s laugh was watery as she shook her head. “I haven’t.” Zack was careful putting an arm around her waist, the other cupping the delicate base of her skull. Holding her close was as healing as her Curaga had been. “You were in bad shape. You feel better now?” Her fingers rested against the cross-shaped scar on his jaw. 

“Better than when I first got here. They almost did us in.”

Aerith whipped her head up, green eyes blazing. “Who did?” As much as she sounded frightened, there was also indignation, as if she was prepared to hunt down the perpetrators herself. 

“Shinra.” She stiffened in his arms. “Always Shinra. Pinned us near the outskirts of the city. Nearly killed me and tried to take Cloud.” That was what had given him that second wind: seeing the Shinra soldiers reaching for Cloud. There was no way he would die and let Shinra dig their filthy claws back into Cloud.

“That’s Cloud?” Her attention shifted to the pew behind him and Zack felt a rush of warm affection at her tender smile. “He’s cute. Makes me want to tease him.” 

“I know the feeling.” Zack said, resisting the tingling urge in his fingertips to reach over and muss Cloud’s spikes. “Did he--? When you got here, was he--?”

“He’s been asleep since I got here.” Aerith said. “I checked him for injuries and said ‘hello’ but…”

“No. He’s been like that for weeks.” Zack said. But...he had  _ hoped _ , if only for a moment. He tried not to let disappointment and sorrow and fear creep into his tone but Aerith was perceptive.

“You care a lot about him.”

“I do.” Zack loved him. Zack loved him just as fiercely as he loved Aerith. “He’s... _ precious _ to me.”

“Mmmm. Then, he’ll be precious to me too.” Gentle hands turned his head back so that he was looking at Aerith again and his sorrow melted away. “Hey...he’ll come back. I  _ know  _ it. His spirit is still there; it’s just healing. Like  _ you _ need to do.”

Zack nodded, trusting that she could feel things beyond what he could. Pleased that he was no longer quite so melancholy, Aerith rocked back so that she was sitting on his lap, and removed another globe of healing materia from her red jacket to really get down to business. Zack smiled at her intensity, the glow of magic matching her eyes and casting a lovely green glaze on her bare arms. She hummed lightly as her hands ghosted over his scrapes and bruises, the melody hiccupping a bit as she encountered scars.

Gods, he loved her. 

“Still wearing that ribbon I see. Think you’re about due for a new one right? I’ll have to get right on that once I can find work again.” Though she clearly kept it in good condition, he wanted to buy her nice clothes from the glitzy stores topside. He wondered if his Shinra account was still active or if they had thoughtfully absorbed his funds back into the company.

“I’m sure a strapping Ex-SOLDIER like yourself can find some kind of gainful employment in the slums.” She flushed a little as her hands passed over a cut on his sculpted abdomen. “Like as a delivery boy or as a bodyguard.”

“If Cloud were awake, he’d give me a glowing bodyguard recommendation. Carted his ass all over the planet. You, er, weren’t in the market for a bodyguard were you? Wouldn’t mind following you around as a profession.” 

“I can take care of myself, thank you.” She winked at him and motioned toward the heavy metal pole she clearly used as a weapon. “Though...I would also like to see you following me around like a lost puppy.” Angeal had always called him that; rather than being offended, he felt a rush of delighted, dog-like affection. 

Aerith. Aerith.  _ Aerith _ .

“I was right, you know.”

“Mm?”

“You look best in pink.” She did. Her dress was just the palest shade of pink and it brought out the pink in her cheeks and the vibrant green of her eyes. Pale blue had suited her fine but...she looked dynamite in pink. 

Aerith laughed and pushed gently at his shoulder and Zack rocked back on instinct more than her power, his grin wide. She met him as he righted himself, her lovely face so close that he could smell the fresh lily scent of her clothes and skin.

Bolder than she had ever been as a teenager, Aerith kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his neck, his chest; Zack kissed her back when her lips reached his. It had been so long...

Kissing her was better than clean water, fresh air, dry shelter; it was like the feeling of freedom, swooping wild and winged in his chest. He prayed she wouldn’t tire of kissing him any time soon.

Aerith pushed gently on his chest until Zack was resting on his elbows and then on his back and suddenly his mind was only focused on how they could--

The door opened with a bang and Zack saw a flash of red somewhere between the color of fire and blood. Aerith jolted, her hand reaching for the metal staff she had rested against Zack’s blade. Zack rolled to a crouch, ready to defend Aerith and Cloud even though the movement opened some of his healing wounds. He did not feel it through his mako-powered adrenaline.

“You!” Aerith gasped.

The voice was still cocky and grating, familiar even though it was a little deeper than it had been several years before. “Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking  _ kidding _ me!”


	2. Little Red Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all; it's been a minute! I'm going to try and update twice a month so we'll see how that goes.  
> Man I wish Square would let Reno say 'fuck' haha!  
> Even though he only met Zack briefly in Crisis Core, I think Reno heard so much about him from Tseng and Cissnei that he feels like he knows the guy. Also someone RUDELY pointed out online the parallels in the remake, and Crisis Core where Aerith could feel Elmyra's husband die and come to say farewell and very likely did the same for Zack. Not this time.  
> I hope you all enjoy!

Aerith recognized Reno, of the Turks, if only from the description that Rude had provided after years of complaints. Truly no further opposite from Rude could be imagined; Reno’s suit hung off of his lean frame like an afterthought, his hungry turquoise eyes roaming sharp as a hawk’s, whimsical tattoos like scars across his cheeks, and hair so red that it almost hurt the eyes to look at it too long.

His eyes took in the scene in the church in quick succession, flicking from comatose Cloud to Zack, shirtless and reaching for his sword, to Aerith standing guard in front of the both of them, with her arm still glowing green.

Realization seemed to hit him like a lightning spell, rippling down his rangy body as his mouth started moving, “Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking  _ kidding _ me!”

“Reno!” Zack gasped.

Blazing fast, Reno turned on his heel and slammed the wooden church door behind him; two Shinra grunts who had been following him caught the door with their heads and Aerith heard them drop, unconscious, to the ground just outside the church. She winced a little thinking of the headache that they would have while waking up, but then she remembered that Shinra soldiers were always equipped with guns… guns they would have likely trained on Zack and Cloud. 

Suddenly, she was not feeling quite so charitable and she squared her shoulders in preparation to deal with Reno. 

The front door cracked open and Reno turned to slam it shut again, his expression crackling with fury. “I’ll be dealing with the An--the flower girl,” Aerith appreciated his discretion, “ _ alone _ . Don’t meddle.”

“B-But,  _ sir _ \--!”

“I  _ said _ don’t meddle!” Reno snarled, banging the butt end of his baton against the door, blue sparks flying off the tip. “I’ll come out when I’m good and fucking ready. Now stand guard and shut up!”

He was running down the aisle a half second later, lightning magic speeding his steps. 

Zack seemed prepared for the speed of Reno and pushed Aerith behind him, opening a few wounds that were still healing. “Hey, watch it!” She cautioned, torn between casting a protection shell and continuing to heal Zack. But it was all for naught anyways.

Reno sheathed his baton and skidded to a halt just in front of Zack. “You mad bastard. You’re alive! You beat that squadron that was sent then? And you have the other SOLDIER they were after?” Zack nodded, still defensive, and Reno slumped in relief. “Good, good. Thank fuck. We thought we’d lost you, Zack.”

“We?” Aerith ducked her head out from behind Zack’s arm, fairly certain that Reno was not out to hurt them.

“Tseng. He sent out a team to find you before anyone else had you eradicated. Cissnei went out personally. And...here you both are right under the fucking nose of our ignorant president.  _ Zack _ .” 

“Cissnei…” Unusual sadness and regret tinged Zack’s normally upbeat tone and Aerith put a gentle hand on his back, just behind where his heart was.

“I got orders from the pres to come here but never thought it would be for you. They must have people in all your old hangouts in Midgar. No wonder they sent half a battalion with me;  _ fuck _ !” Reno chewed on his thumbnail and paced. “They’re placed at the doors and windows too.”

Aerith looked over at the same time Zack did, their eyes going to the sweet face and helpless form of Cloud. There was something so instinctively, naturally charming about him that--even though he was unresponsive--she had liked him on sight. She wanted to tuck flowers into his suspenders and behind his ears, hold his hands as she led him through the slums, rest his head on her lap and run her hands through hair that looked as soft as chocobo down. 

“They won’t hurt Aerith or Cloud.” Zack said with absolute sincerity. There was no fury, just fact; Zack would not let the Shinra guards hurt her or Cloud. It was times like these that Aerith remembered that he was a one-man army, capable of destroying them all even at half his strength. 

“You have another way out? Somewhere safer to go?” Reno asked, his eyes flicking restlessly between Zack and the door of the church. “I can buy you a bit more time but they’re going to want to do a sweep of the building.”

“I know a way.” Aerith raised her hand quickly before Zack could volunteer to leap through one of the stained glass windows with Cloud under one arm and Aerith under the other. “And I know somewhere safe we can stay. If your friends don’t follow us.” She had brought abandoned animals and strangers home for dinner and care before, but never a shirtless, scarred, six-foot-three SOLDIER boyfriend and his blond, comatose companion whom he adored. 

She doubted her mother would be surprised. And if anyone could beat Shinra back with little more than a broom, it would be Elmyra Gainsborough.

“I’ll make sure they don’t follow you.” Reno promised. “Might be tough with sleeping beauty over there though.” Zack tensed slightly at the mention of Cloud, overprotective. “You think you can manage?”

“We’re not leaving him.” Aerith insisted at the same time Zack said, “I’ve carried him across the planet; I can manage one more day.”

There was no question; Aerith wouldn’t let an old sewer rat fall into Shinra’s hands, much less a young man who slept deep and helpless. It would be precarious taking her route after such a heavy rain, but Zack would manage...somehow. Shinra made their SOLDIERs tougher than nails.

Zack turned back to her, and she nodded at him. “I’ll lead the way, once you get yours and Cloud’s things together. It’s precarious but…”

“Don’t worry about me.” He bumped his knuckles under her chin and grinned. “I’ll carry you too if you’d like.”

She  _ had  _ always wanted Zack to carry her--

“If you both are fucking finished, I need your help with an alibi.” Reno turned his electric gaze to Aerith next. “This might sound crazy but...I’m going to need you to kick the shit out of me.”

She felt her eyes widen.

It was not a request she had expected or often received. And it was hardly an opportunity she planned to pass up. Not many people got carte-blanche to beat on the infamous Turks, those wranglers of SOLDIER candidates, and she tightened the grip on her staff in anticipation.

“Aerith, don’t you think I should--” Zack started and she responded by pushing him back to the empty pew near Cloud where their shirts and boots were draped neatly in hopes that they would dry. 

“Gods, Zack, I said I needed the shit kicked out of me, not that I wanted to be fucking minced with that SOLDIER meat cleaver you keep on your back.” Reno argued and Aerith desperately wanted to see him and Rude work together. “Let the lady have a turn.”

“Also you’ll open up your injuries if you move too much. Let me take care of this.” The rest of the Curaga magic she cast in his direction, as if to finalize her decision. Zack must have seen something set in her expression because he didn’t press again, reaching for his boots instead. He had never seen her fight before and she was eager to show him what she had learned in the years he’d been gone.

She was no SOLDIER but any monster or local thugs who waited around in claustrophobic alleys would not find her an easy target.

“Ready?” Reno had reached the end of his patience, watching Aerith and Zack debate over who would get to rough him up.

“Ready!” Reno bravely squared his shoulders as Aerith readied her heavy metal staff in preparation to beat him upside the head. She tried to keep too much excitement from creeping into her smile. “Sorry in advance!” 

The three of them left Reno knocked nearly senseless and half-pinned under an old beam, hoping that his team would take a little longer to come in and investigate why he hadn’t come out yet. Hopefully they would buy his story of the church being empty and him being crushed by rubble. In the meantime, Zack draped Cloud across his arms and followed Aerith up to the attic of the church where there was a hole leading out to the rooftops of Sector Five. 

Sure enough, there were guards grouped all around the church and the metal of the rooftops was slippery from the rain. They picked their way across slowly at first, not wanting to risk slipping and revealing their position but Aerith sped up once they were a fair distance away. 

It was good she liked to wander off the beaten path so often. No one else would think to post guards up on the defunct pipes or the old water tower. 

And walking with Zack put a spring in her step, regardless of how her boots sometimes slipped on the wet metal. 

Further into the sector, they came to the edge of the stacked tin roofs and the thirty foot drop to the dusty street below. Aerith pressed her hands on her knees as she looked down, remembering how long it took her to get down the last time. “You think it’s safe with Cloud? Or should we find another way?”

Zack had already shifted Cloud so that he was draped over one shoulder and opened his free arm invitingly. “Let’s just take the shortcut.”

“If you get hurt, it’s going to be tough for me to cart the both of you back to my house.” She murmured even as her renegade feet pushed her forward. Zack’s arm was solid as steel just under the curve of her bottom and it was a good thing too because her legs would have given out from the kiss he gave her. “Best get that out of your system before you meet my mother.”

“Trust me: I have a good nurse.” A slight squeeze of his arm and Aerith wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I trust you.” She murmured as she kissed his neck; she had trusted him to come back and he was here. She trusted him to land safely. “Ready to fly Cloud?”

He nuzzled his cheek against Zack’s sweater by way of response and Zack patted his bottom. “Hold on then!” Aerith had all of a split second to catch her breath before Zack leapt fearlessly from the rusted tin roof and plummeted towards the earth. In that brief span of falling, her legs wrapped around his waist and she hissed ‘shit’ from between clenched teeth.

Zack landed lightly on the balls of his feet, bouncing up about two feet in the air before coming to rest on one knee. Aerith felt his lips on her forehead when she did not immediately loosen her hold. “How’d you like flying?”

Aerith smiled up at him. “I could get used to it…”

“Sure you don’t want me to carry you the rest of the way?” Zack’s head rested momentarily against her collarbone and Aerith prepared to lie that it was the adrenaline causing her heart to beat so quickly. Gods, his eyes could make her weak with all those blues and violets with bolts of bright green.

“Will you take a rain check?” She asked, bumping her chin against the top of his head. The implications were dangerous but he shifted his arm so that her boots touched the muddy ground.

“Deal.”

Further back alleys to avoid the hundreds of people Aerith knew in the Sector 5 slums, and Aerith led Zack to the outskirts of her mother’s house. Just as it did every time she came home, a sense of calm swept through her seeing the clean water and endless flowers and the simple wooden house that Elmyra had built with her own two hands. Aerith felt closest to the planet in this exact spot, under the steel sky with Zack by her side.

She turned back to him to see his reaction and he was slack-jawed, barely blinking. Zack had set Cloud on his feet so that Zack could tilt his head up. Cloud took in the view through hazy blue eyes, scarcely blinking in response. 

“Like it?”

“I...never thought this kind of place could exist in  _ Midgar _ . Whatcha think Cloud?” He bounced Cloud up softly and Cloud blinked in response. “Just like Aerith, huh?”

“Like me?” She clasped her hands behind her back, interested to hear.

Zack bumped her hip as he passed, his grin cheeky. “ _ Beautiful _ .” 

Aerith felt her cheeks redden at his easy compliments and all but skipped over the wooden bridges to her front porch. Zack, by virtue of his longer legs, reached the porch first and set Cloud on one of the chairs there so that he could stretch his shoulders. Aerith ruffled Cloud’s hair, finding the spikes just as soft as she had imagined.

He tilted into her touch. 

“Are you sure it’s ok for us to stay?” Zack asked as his gorgeous eyes flicked from their waterfall to the herb bed to the warm, inviting light coming from within. It ached in Aerith’s chest to think of him running across the countryside, sleeping on the cold, hard ground, and never once feeling safe or at ease. While he was a guest in her home, she never wanted him to feel that way.

“If you don’t,” She scuffed her boots against the wood of the porch, “I’ll never forgive you.”

“Hard to argue with that, eh Cloud?”

“Ask my mom to set up the guest bedroom.” Aerith said errantly as she reached for the doorknob. She jumped as Zack made a sudden noise of distress behind her. The thoughts of open wounds and bubbling sores on Zack’s beloved body filled her mind with terror.

She needn’t have worried. 

“Ohhhh gods…” Zack’s head was between his knees, his hand scratching at his dark spikes. “I’m about to meet your  _ mother _ . Me! The Shinra dog who disappeared for years without a word and just shows up one day all bloody and chased by my old employers. Ohhh, she’s gonna  _ hate _ me.” His head whipped up, eyes intense. “Bring Cloud in instead and I’ll just sneak in through the second floor windows.”

Aerith had to stop to rest her hands on her knees and giggle over how dramatic he was being. “SOLDIER First Class afraid of a flower girl’s mother.” To be fair, her mother was quite fearsome when she wanted to be. “Relax!” She waved her hand to dissipate his nervousness before helping hoist him to his feet. “She’ll like you because... _ I _ like you.”

Zack went from drooping like a kicked puppy to shifting back and forth with delight as Aerith stood up on her toes to kiss him on the mouth.

He picked up Cloud, half-cradling him, half-holding him as a shield and Aerith giggled as she opened her front door. Her mother, Elmyra, turned from where she was shelling peas in the kitchen, her arms wet to the elbows, and her smiled was relieved, as if she had been worried about Aerith coming back. 

“Hi, baby. Welcome back.” 

“Hi mom!” Aerith skipped over and wrapped her arm around her mother’s waist. 

“You’re in a good mood. Something nice happen?” She said this with a bit of trepidation. A good day for Aerith could range from something as simple as having her flowers bloom or being invited to play a game of tag with the neighborhood children to leaping across rusted rooftops or bashing monsters to a pulp. 

“Yes.” Something wonderful, amazing, fantastic… “Do you remember that boy, that SOLDIER who used to come to my church?”

Elmyra sighed, her hands falling idle and Aerith felt them tracing her cheek. “I do. I do remember you talking about him. But it’s been a while. Did you hear from him today or…?” She had seen Aerith back when she was a shy and soft-spoken teenager, on those nights when she had been quietly staring up at the stars wondering why she could still  _ feel _ Zack like a heartbeat in the veins of the earth when he had not written to her. It was likely that her mother did not hold particularly fond feelings about Zack. 

“Something like that!” Aerith took both of her mother’s hands and swung them back and forth. “Do you mind if we have a few guests stay for…”  _ forever _ , her mind supplied.

Her mother’s eyes widened in shock and then flicked just over Aerith’s head, her mouth falling open slightly. Zack certainly had unique timing.

He was so tall, he had to duck entering the doorway, jolting a little as the hilt of his sword clashed against the doorframe. Cloud managed to look more dignified, for once looking semi-alert, his gaze fixed on Aerith.

“This is him?” Her mother asked, looking up...and then further still. 

“Ma’am.” Zack ducked his head. “I’m Zack Fair. Pleased to meet you and...erm, sorry it took so long.” Aerith beamed at him; he could tear the house down around him but was bashful from a simple introduction. “Also this is my...Cloud.”

“Shinra had them all this time and Zack got them out. And he came back.” Just like her birth mother had done. 

The thought of Zack dying alone and in pain, as her mother had was…

_ No _ . It hadn’t happened. He was here; that was all that mattered.

Elmyra sighed. “You’d best come in then. Leave your weapons at the door though.”

  
  



	3. Gone Are the Melancholy Nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a hot minute and I had this chapter half-finished for a while haha! But for some reason recently I got a bunch of sweet comments on this fic and I felt bad for letting it sit so long! So here's chapter 3!  
> I'm sure Elmyra sees Zack while his clothes are being cleaned and realizes, "Oh damn, my daughter has good taste,' haha! Zack is fine as all hell ;) Also I wrote briefly about this in my other Final Fantasy fic but I've always debated over whether or not Cloud/Zack/SOLDIERS in general could make love after all their experimentation but I ended up deciding that Hojo would want them to keep that ability intact to see what kind of progeny would come out of it. Three cheers for that bastard I guess?  
> Anyway! I hope you all enjoy!

Zack would work as hard as a trained field chocobo to repay Elmyra Gainsborough’s kindness. 

She had listened to his story with calm acceptance before providing him with the first decent hot meal he’d had in years while Aerith personally fed Cloud, praising him at every bite. While Aerith drew him and Cloud a hot bath with a spare globe of materia, Elmyra busied herself setting up her guest room for two. 

She was waiting for him with a stack of blankets and scarcely blinked as Zack and Cloud emerged in little more than bath towels. “It’s not much but…”

“It’s enough.” Zack insisted. “Thank you.”

She glanced at the humble room, at the flowers Aerith had clearly cut and left in repurposed tin cans. “One of you will have to take the cot. They make you SOLDIER boys big and the frame might break with the both of you on it.” She shot him a pointed look, clearly having noticed the tender way he held Cloud. Zack ruffled Cloud’s hair, the most he would do aside from light kisses while Cloud was like this. 

“On my honor. He can have the bed and I’ll take the cot.” 

Both were too short for Zack; his feet and half of his calves would dangle off the ends but Cloud was a bit shorter and slimmer and would fit the bed just fine.

Elmyra nodded. “I’ll wash your clothes and hopefully they’ll be dry by morning.”

“Again, thank you. I…I’ll do all I can to repay your kindness.” In the past, it was the kind of thing Angeal would have reminded him to say after a smack upside the head. But Angeal was gone now and Zack had to remember on his own.

Elmyra walked past him. “No need. Just stay where she can see you.”

“I will. I don’t intend to leave her again.” Zack said, impassioned at the idea that Elmyra thought he might run away. It was a bold statement from a SOLDIER, a perfect killing machine, and Elmyra took in his scarred body and the state of Cloud. It was surely not reassuring for a mother who likely wanted her daughter to stay well clear of trouble.

“I just want her safe.” And with that final thought, she left him.

Zack let the words sink in, let the weight of being a wanted man in love with an ordinary citizen and a comatose partner really set in. He would have to work ceaselessly to keep them both safe from Shinra’s sight and stealth had never been his strong suit.

But he’d do it. For Cloud and Aerith, he’d do anything.

“Anything at all,” he said, kissing Cloud’s cheek, “starting with getting some good sleep.”

Cloud sighed softly--in what Zack hoped was relief--as Zack laid him on the bed and tucked the covers in around his shoulders. He obediently closed his eyes the moment the blankets rested against his shoulder and Zack leaned down to kiss his forehead, murmuring the same ‘prayer’ he did every night:

“ _ Cloud, please. I miss you. Wake up. Please wake up. Please. Cloud, my Cloud, please come back to me. I miss you so much. Come back. _ ”

When he pulled back, he was not as tired as he was before--SOLDIERs did not need more than two or three hours of sleep anyway--and took a moment to leisurely explore the room. It clearly was as much a storage space as it was a spare bedroom, what with the boxes and half-fixed furniture stacked in one side of the room, but there were still plants growing in chipped cups on the windowsill.

There was also another door on the wall near the foot of Cloud’s bed--a storage closet he assumed--and his curiosity got the better of him.

Zack nearly yelped as the door was wrenched open from the inside. 

Aerith was behind the threshold, grinning and barefoot in white and green pajamas. Her hair was loose and wavy down her back and her fingers pressed against his mouth before he could say anything else. He followed her silently into--what he realized after the door had half-closed behind him was--her bedroom. Much like the rest of her home, it was simply decorated and frothing with plants. Zack was so caught up in the beauty of her smooth legs and her unbraided hair that he did not remember he had a working mouth until he was sitting on her bed and she was standing in front of him at eye-level.

“A-Aerith.”

“Hi. Can’t sleep?”

“I have to,” he was caught up in the vibrant green of her eyes and the thin strip of stomach that showed between the hem of her top and the waistband of her shorts and he stuttered, “t-to check and make sure i-it’s safe and no Shinra--” It was a habit he had learned on the run and all thoughts escaped his mind as Aerith ran her fingernails gently into his dark spikes.

“Shinra in my house?”

“They were in your church.”

“Zack. You’re safe here. No more running.”

It was dangerous. Her touch melted him: through his hair, down his cheeks, stroking his neck, squeezing his shoulders. Such a gentle touch...Zack felt his body react and he shifted quickly, not meaning to. “I should--!”

Aerith gasped as his motion knocked her off balance and he held out his arms on instinct. His arms were filled with her, her softness pressed up against his chest. So caught up in the sensations of her, Zack did not notice as her arms went around his neck. They both paused for a moment, tense and holding each other tight. Aerith pulled back first, though she did not let go of Zack.

“You don’t have to sleep in the cot.” She whispered against the line of his neck. “Stay with me.”

Zack was easily persuaded. “I’ll stay.”

She grinned wide and leaned in to kiss him. “Not just here in this room. Stay with me.”

“As long as you want me.”

Her hands ran down his arms and chest in feather-light touches and Zack melted into her hands. Quite without realizing, he let her push him backwards onto her bed--the wooden frame creaking in protest--and let her pepper kisses on every scar, every bruise…

Though he had never lost the fine musculature of years of SOLDIER training, his scars had increased tenfold. Most were dotted up and down his arms as the remnant of countless injections though he did have some longer ones on his torso from surgeries he was happy he did not remember. Thankfully Aerith did not seem to mind.

“You ok?” 

Zack was shaking. It had been years since he’d felt a touch so gentle and loving and he felt like he was going to crumble to pieces or glow like a star. He half-expected his blood to be glowing blue through his skin. “Working on it.”

She shifted closer to him and Zack breathed in the flowery scent of her skin until he felt drunk on it.

“Hold me, Zack.” 

He’d do anything for her--wander back to Shinra’s city, protect her, die for her; making love to her with Cloud sleeping next door and her mother sleeping downstairs hardly seemed like a risk in comparison. 

Though his heart was thundering, his hands were steady on the glossy buttons until the shirt hung slack around her body. The thing he noticed first was how smooth her skin was. There were no scars on her body from experimentation, just endless smooth white, and his fingertips shook a little as he brushed them against the skin of her collarbone. Aerith’s exhale was shaky.

“They make SOLDIERs strong, huh? But...you’re so gentle.” She laughed softly, her chest rising into his hand. 

Zack laughed though it was mostly nerves. “Don’t want to snap you in half. I kinda like you the way you are.” In the past, he might have been exuberant, playful if he’d had the chance to be with her like this years ago. But that Zack was gone, or...buried deep at the very least. “Let me know if I accidentally hurt you.”

Aerith, unfazed, helped him slide the shirt from her shoulders, leaving her bare in the moonlight.

She was a goddess. 

Her hair was in waves to a waist so dainty that Zack might have been able to circle it with his hands. Her limbs were slender and elegant, but still rounded and soft, and he couldn’t help but drag his fingers from her collarbone between the twin curves of her breasts, watching her skin rise from the feeling. Even though it was dark,  Zack realized that the reason pink looked so stunning on her was because her white skin was all pink undertones. He wanted to see her, make love to her in the sunlight and watch her glow rose. 

The towel Zack had been wearing had slipped off his hips onto the floor and--thank the gods--he had reacted to her. He nearly laughed in relief.

“What?” Aerith’s cheeks went from blush to red and she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“It’s not you. You’re  _ beautiful _ .” He insisted, gently pulling her arms down. “I guess...I was just worried that--after everything they did to me...I wouldn’t be able to,” he laughed and nodded his head towards his hips, “ _ you know _ .”

“Ah.” Her smile was bright and Zack drank in her body. “No worries there.”

“No worries there.” As she opened her arms, Zack pulled her down to him and rested his mouth against her bare body. Open-mouthed, breath hot, his mouth ran gently down the line of her throat, over her slim collarbones. She shivered along with him as he touched the skin of her chest with his warm mouth and calloused hands; her small breast rested perfectly on his palm, soft as the peaches from the Costa del Sol, better than any crude imagination or dream he could have come up with. She would have been a stick figure in his mind.

He laughed a little at the thought and Aerith pulled back, smiling. “What now?”

“It’s just,” quite on its own, his tongue darted out and rested against the peak of her nipple, “you’re much less... _ polygonal _ than whatever I had imagined before. To be fair, they don’t choose SOLDIERs for their imagination...”

Aerith burst into laughter, her chest shaking in Zack’s direct line of vision. It was a view he could get used to and he resumed his tender touches as she responded to his ridiculous bedroom talk. 

“I thought of-- _ oh _ !--of you so often. About what this would be like.  _ Ah _ ! Puppy Zack, licking me all over.” Her hips shifted just slightly and Zack flushed; all over? He liked the idea enough to salivate. “I didn’t-- _ haaa _ \--” as he traced one hand smoothly up the length of her inner thigh, her body rolled against his and his vision started to get hazy, “no one else had  _ quite _ the same appeal.”

“Really?” Though he would not have cared either way, Zack was still elated. Aerith had waited for him, she had never stopped believing he would come back. If he had had a tail, it would have been wagging.

“No one made me  _ laugh _ like you do.”

“I dreamt of your laugh,” He breathed, his smile so wide that it hurt. “Swear I heard it through the earth.”

She was laughing softly as she kissed him, their laughter interrupted by bursts of short gasps as hands roamed. Zack was in the process of inching one hand down the front of Aerith’s shorts without tearing them, when they heard the creaking of floorboards from downstairs. Zack froze, his hand caught between Aerith’s legs, even as Aerith--bold as ever--moved against his fingers. The look on her face was...gorgeous.

“Aerith, baby? You ok up there? Thought I heard something.”

Aerith’s eyes were closed but her voice was steady. “Fine mom. Just checking on... _ Zack _ .” His fingers brushed against a warm spot and Zack knew that the way she said his name was meant for him. His next touch was more deliberate.

“Ok…” Elmyra sounded a little unsure, but was too tired to press, “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Need anything?” Zack asked at the softest of whispers.

“So  _ petty _ .” 

In the end, Aerith yanked her own shorts off so that Zack could put both hands to good use, which he did with sincere delight. In the moonlight, he traced her until his fingers were wet to the knuckle and Aerith had curled up in a shaking little ball on his chest. Zack could feel the mako pulsing in his blood, heightening his senses until he swore he could hear her heartbeat and taste her in the air. 

He could have gone for ages; as a SOLDIER his hands would not have flagged even if he decided to stroke her for hours. But Aerith made some comment about his fingers pruning and shifted his hands back to her hips.

“Are you  _ sure _ ?” Zack’s voice cracked as Aerith leveled herself with his hips and pressed him against the wet heat he had drawn out of her.

She cocked her head and dark waves of hair spilled over her shoulder. “It wouldn’t be much fun if we stopped now, would it?” She made an excellent point. 

Even so, nothing could have prepared him for the feeling of sliding into her.

His breath was soft on her skin, his hands in her hair, and all of the months of being cold and tired and scared were worth it. She was warm around him and moved smooth and slow against him.

“Aerith, Aerith.” He said her name in measured beats to keep from moaning aloud. 

One hand clenched the wood of the bed frame to keep it from sliding against the wood floors and to keep him from cracking any of Aerith’s bones with his grip. The strength Shinra had cultivated in him would not be used against Aerith. He would be nothing but gentle to her.

“ _ Zack _ !” All of her seemed to clench tight around him and the cry seemed to cut a little too loudly through the air. Though his toes were on the verge of curling and his vision was going white, Zack shifted so that he could yank the covers over their heads, muffling any further sound.

And though he would happily tear Shinra apart, Zack reluctantly thanked the Shinra scientists for leaving his sex drive not only intact, but voracious. Aerith did not help, encouraging him softly to go harder, faster.

Gripping Aerith with a quarter of his strength, Zack groaned through clenched teeth and his vision flashed white. For a moment, it felt as though he had died and joined the Lifestream. He was hardly of a delicate constitution but the experience was just too much for him and he passed out for a moment.

When he came back to himself, Aerith had somehow managed to move in spite of the fact that Zack’s full body weight was on top of her. She had pushed the covers down to their hips so that Zack could breathe in the fresh air and her hands were stroking his black hair. He was duly aware that his head was pillowed on her breasts and he kissed one the moment he felt comfortable moving.

“Feel better?” She murmured.

“I think that...going four-ish years without release is...not a great idea,” Zack groaned and kissed Aerith’s breast again, “I think I almost exploded.”

Her responding laughter was so sweet and helpless that Zack couldn’t help but laugh as well. With his relief and feeling of complete and utter safety, it was the first time Zack had felt like himself since he and Cloud had escaped the Shinra labs together.

Zack remained in Aerith’s bed, in some wonderfully soft state between sleeping and wakefulness. Aerith had put her shorts back on, though her top remained bare, and she nuzzled up under his chin. “Zack?”

“Hmm?”

“Have you...done this with Cloud yet?” Of course she had noticed how tenderly he had treated Cloud and her voice bore not even the slightest hint of jealousy. She sounded soft and thoughtful, as if delighted by the idea.

“Not yet.” Zack admitted. He had only kissed Cloud--sweet teenage Cloud, with bright red cheeks after being kissed--by way of showing the depth of his emotion and the promise that one day they could do more. Zack had not pushed it further and then...then Nibelheim had happened and he would not do more with a man lost in his mind. Sweet, blushing Cloud. “We couldn’t before...everything.”

“But you want to.” Aerith said.

“I want to.” Zack agreed. Cloud was naturally charming, people fell in love with him easily and Zack was no exception. “I  _ love _ him. Like I love you.” He could not say exactly when he had fallen in love with Cloud; Zack had simply enjoyed spending time with a fellow country boy and was charmed by Cloud’s genuine willingness, his sweet determination to make something of himself. 

The big blue eyes and the smile he gave Zack when Zack praised him certainly didn’t hurt either.

Aerith made a small noise of contentment as she snuggled up closer to him. “Then I’ll love him too.”

The thought was unbearably tender to him; the two people he loved most in the world adoring each other. Zack fell asleep in Aerith’s bed with that thought in his mind: Cloud awake from his long slumber, he and Aerith both caught up in Zack’s embrace.


	4. Welcome to Anonymity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! And this time with some more Turks!
> 
> One thing I really liked about Zack (and also TIdus from FFX) is just how transparent they are with their feelings. There's no guessing their emotions, especially when they're angry or sad. And around Aerith, Zack is even more open than normal.
> 
> I guess this is just kind of a head's up that Zack will be both angry and sad this chapter haha! Also, good news, Cloud and Tifa are coming soon! I hope you all enjoy!

Aerith was always sure that a quiet life would not agree with Zack. He was too big, too bold, too full of energy to be tied down somewhere in the sticks and she was worried that he would go mad confined to the perimeter of her home. At over six feet tall and built to mouthwatering scale, he would stand out even in the slums of Sector Five where Shinra could take notice. Aerith watched, worried softly about his desire to wander.

But he seemed content for some peace and stability after months on the run. 

Her mother put him to work hauling scrap, tilling their vegetable beds, and making repairs to their house and other structures on the land. Aerith would return from selling flowers to find Zack just basking on the roof while Elmyra looked up at him in disbelief.

“I have never met a man more capable and somehow just as likely to fall off the roof headfirst.” She murmured, wiping off dust with her handkerchief. “At least he can hammer straight.” Her mother jolted as Zack saw Aerith and leapt from the roof, landing easily on his feet.

House and yardwork were not the only things Zack had taken to. 

In the quiet dark nights after he had run a cool bath for himself and Cloud and made the kitchen come alive with laughter, when Aerith was lying in bed and thinking of Zack and Cloud, she would hear a soft rap of knuckles against her door. It was truly difficult to keep from sprinting across the room to rip open the door, instead tiptoeing over to avoid creaks that would wake her mother. Zack still looked a little bashful every time, as if he expected her to turn him away, even though she never would.

She always pulled Zack in by the hand or by the straps of his suspenders so that he could make her tremble with his gentle hands and clever tongue and she always left the door open, just in case Cloud woke up.

It became almost a habit, even if they did not make love in some fashion, that he let her use his impressive torso as a mattress so that she could fall asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat, his hands in her long hair. More often than not, she woke to find him still there, gazing at her lovingly in the morning light.

She rarely saw him sleep; just another oddity of loving a SOLDIER.

“Cloud sleeps enough for the both of us.” He had joked lightly even though his eyes had flicked to Cloud’s prone form with just a hint of sadness and concern.

“It’s a good thing he’s cute,” Aerith murmured, trying to bring humor and levity back to Zack. “Otherwise one might think that he’s lazy.” When it did not elicit the response she wanted, Aerith touched the cross-shaped scar on Zack’s cheek. “Hey...trust me. He’s going to get better. I can feel it.”

Zack nodded and kissed her fingers. “I guess...I always thought I could change my destiny with my own strength. Guess it’s not enough when I go up against a company that controls the world.” She felt him clench tight as a fist, his whole body wound and ready to defend himself. 

She wondered if he would ever feel safe again in his life. “Zack…”

“I could hear him  _ screaming _ .” His voice was an anguished whisper, almost lost in the dark. “I don’t know what they  _ did _ to him but I could hear him screaming in my dreams. Sometimes when I sleep I think he’s crying out again but he’s trapped in his head and can’t get out and I can’t  _ get to him _ \--”

Aerith held him as the words poured out, her tears silent and steady on her pillow. Having lived the first years of her life in the clutches of Shinra, she knew that it was not a safe or tender place but...nothing to this extent. She could not think of anything to do except hold him and pray to the planet that his pain would ease in time. Especially since the both of them could reach out and hold Cloud. 

They could get to him before he cried out.

Zack apologized when he had finished spilling out his soul and composed himself, his laughter light and careful. “Sorry, sorry. I guess I just...have too much time to think these days. At least when we were on the road, I could focus on keeping us alive. No time to wallow in the past, right Cloud?”

“You need it, don’t you?” Aerith murmured when Cloud did not respond. 

“Hm?”

Aerith stroked his lush black spikes. Even though she wanted him to stay by her side in quiet domesticity, it wouldn’t suit Zack’s nature. He needed to burn off energy and distract himself from his memories of Shinra. And though he was not patient, Aerith knew that Cloud would get better...in time. She could feel it, somehow.

“You don’t have to apologize. It takes time to heal. Just give it time…”

Zack closed his eyes, the mako glow dimming the room as if a star had gone out. “They took  _ years _ from me. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

It was only a few days later, when the four of them were in the front gardens together, that they had a rare visitor.

Zack noticed first, thanks to Shinra’s gift of sensitive hearing, and his eyes narrowed. “Someone’s coming.” Aerith and Elmyra looked up quickly, seeing a familiar dark form walking from the tunnel that led to the Sector 5 slums.

Though Zack was on edge--his jaw clenched slightly as he shifted in front of Cloud--Aerith and her mother were unconcerned.

“Hello, Aerith. Elmyra.” He was the polar opposite of Reno, down to the smooth, deep bass of his voice. His dark head was sensibly shaved to the skin so he did not have to deal with the inconvenience of hair, his suit was crisp and fully buttoned, his stoic face displaying little emotion past polite interest. Where Reno was wild, he was controlled, while Reno was flashy, he was understated, Reno ran hot and his partner kept a cool head, a curbed tongue, a poker face. 

“Hello, Rude.”

“Who's your friend?” There was no way he did not know who Zack was. The Turks had intel on just about everyone and Aerith was reasonably sure that Reno could sooner destroy the whole of Shinra before he could keep his mouth shut in front of Rude. The man had not even seen fit to put on his gloves when faced with Zack and the enormous sword that was just within arm’s reach.

Zack scarcely blinked as he stared at Rude, his body coiled tight as a spring.

“My boyfriend, Zack.” Aerith said lightly, leaning forward. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Rude’s cheek twitched; his face was so disciplined, that was the closest he had ever come to a surprised smile. Instead he pushed his sunglasses up further on the bridge of his nose. “SOLDIER First Class, Zack Fair, I presume?” He inclined his head slightly, as if ducking for a better look at something, and Aerith suddenly wished her staff was close at hand. “If so then this would be Cl--”

There was the smooth sound of heavy metal as Zack yanked his sword out of the ground, immediately ready to protect Cloud. She knew Zack had some good history with the Turks--with Tseng and Cissnei mostly--but there was no way for him to fully trust a Shinra worker after all that had been done to him.

Rude wisely did not finish his thought. 

Elmyra had been watching the entire exchange--Aerith’s impishness, Rude’s polite prying, Zack’s edginess, and Cloud’s trademark blank stare--with a wry grin. “What can we do for you, Rude?”

He straightened up, the fear gone as he got himself under control. “Nothing. I’m not here to cause trouble. Just delivering a message.” Clearly it was an important one as Turks generally did not consider themselves messengers and delivery boys; there were grunts aplenty to do that. “The Shinra Electric Company is currently dealing with an eco-terrorist group operating out of the slums. Most of our man-power is going towards flushing them out before they cause irreparable physical and financial damage to the company and Midgar at large.” When he was met with silence, Rude elaborated. “What I  _ mean _ is, we will no longer be wasting resources chasing after two failed test subjects.”

Aerith felt relief over this news rise in golden warmth from her fingers, up her neck and into her cheeks.  _ They were no longer looking for Zack and Cloud _ .

“You mean it?” She asked, clutching her hands in front of her chest. “He’s safe to go out then?” She looked over to Zack in delight, thinking of all the small dates they could go on if he could leave the limits of her home. He too was beaming; she could practically see the restrained energy rising with the color in his cheeks

“This is not an invitation to go out and cause chaos.” Rude amended. “Your boyfriend is not exactly the type to...fly under the radar. But...within reason.”

“I never cause chaos.” 

“I have  _ seen _ your file.” Rude called his bluff. “Though...I will say, there are some people who would like to see you in action.”

That seemed to sober Zack immediately, the thought of having any member of Shinra observe him and Aerith saw him shift defensively. “Not even if you paid me.”

It occurred to her then that even she had not seen Zack use his full potential after whatever Shinra had done to him. Aside from leaping easily from the roof--a feat all on its own--Zack had not seen battle since she’d found him and Cloud in the church. In a way it made her nervous over what potentially could happen.

Aerith had a feeling that Zack would show her if she asked honestly but...it could feel like coercion, like she was asking him to expose a wound that was still raw. She trusted that he was powerful and that would have to be enough.

She remembered the winged creature with the human face that had come to her church years ago and thought better of it all. 

Rude clearly did not.

He and Zack were still staring each other down, both waiting for the other to make some move or decision. Rude cracked first, his training as a Turk when faced with the potential of extreme power taking over his common sense.

Pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose, he seemed poised to back down. “I see. Then...excuse me.”

Aerith realized, half a second too late, that Rude was not excusing himself to Zack. He snatched her hand, whip-quick, and yanked her close. Her head hit his chest and it knocked the wind out of her in an almost comical ‘oof’. 

She had gotten her bearings for all of a split second--hardly enough time to panic-- before Rude released her and was half-blasted backwards. A warm hand around her waist and the massive blade flanking her was a clear sign that Zack had not cared for Rude to handle her so roughly. Zack must have moved at full speed to cross such a distance so quickly.

“Thanks.” Aerith leaned back into Zack’s chest and looked up at him.

Though his face had been clenched tight with fury, it dissipated the moment she met his gaze, his smile bright. “Puppy status has been increased to guard dog.” He pulled her back gently, their hips nestled side by side as Rude regained his composure, wiping the dust from his suit.

“Sorry about that. Call it ‘professional curiosity’. But you are the real deal, no question about that.” 

“You could have attacked him instead,” with such a guard at her side, Aerith was bold enough to tease Rude with a bright smile.

Rude raised both eyebrows at her cheek. “More fun this way. Elmyra, Aerith,” Elmyra raised one hand by way of farewell, “Zack, pleased to meet you. I hope for my sake that our paths don’t often cross.”

“Always a pleasure, Rude.” Elmyra added.

And, with as little fanfare as he’d arrived, Rude excused himself from the premises. The moment he was out of sight, Zack picked Aerith up off the ground completely, spinning her around in a circle. He was laughing and she found it infectious; she was giggling along with him once her boots touched solid earth.

“No one’s chasing us! No one’s chasing us anymore!” A quick kiss on the mouth and then he was off to provide the same treatment to Cloud, though his kiss was on the nose. “We’re off the radar, Cloud!”

“It’s useless, isn’t it.” Elymra sighed as Aerith watched them both.

She understood. Even though it would take him from her side more often than she’d like, Zack’s sincere and utter delight was more than she could combat. It was useless to think about tampering with such sincere joy.

It took Zack only until mid-afternoon of the next day to become antsy and Aerith watched him as he roamed the grounds and did a series of squats until his legs seemed to give out and he collapsed backwards into a cluster of puff dandelions. Aerith laughed as she brushed the airborne seeds from her face and hair. She was seated nearby, cutting roses from a heavy bush and placing the full blooms in a basket that Cloud was dutifully holding.

Aerith did not immediately ask was amiss, preferring to watch Zack fidget with the need to share his thoughts. She waited patiently.

“Aerith, I’ve been thinking--”

“How dangerous.” She joked in response, stroking Cloud’s hair as he held the basket out to her. “Oh! Thank you.”

Zack rolled over so that he was lying on his stomach, bits of dandelion dander in his black spikes. “I’ve been thinking that now it’s safe, I should go out and find work in the city. Contribute something to the household, you know?” She knew Zack had come from a small, blown out town just south of the Golden Saucer while Cloud--from what Zack had told her--came from a lean, dusty town tucked amongst the mountains and canyons. Aerith brought in a pittance with her flower sales and Elmyra worked as many odd jobs as she could to give them an economic cushion.

Everyone in the house knew of poverty and was eager to escape it.

“I figured you’d say that,” Aerith said, smiling over at him, “You SOLDIER types are always roaming free and I knew once Rude gave you the go-ahead, you’d be out the door within the week to find something to do. At least I’ll have Cloud to keep me company, right Cloud?”

It might have been her imagination but she swore that Cloud’s lips twitched.

“You’re really fine with it?”

“As if I could stop you.”

Zack had rushed up to her in delight and whirled her around until the world was a spinning vortex of greens and blues. “You’ll keep an eye on Cloud while I’m gone?” 

“Both eyes, maybe my hand on occasion.” She promised, leaning her head against his chest to steady herself against the dizziness. “When I held his hand earlier, he squeezed it.”

“Did he?” Zack’s eyes lit up as he looked back at Cloud. “You’re doing so well!” 

“Isn’t he?” Aerith smiled fondly at Cloud and then squeaked as Zack squeezed somewhere much lower than her hand. “Hey!” 

“Praise me too.” Zack begged her as he carried her back to a private spot behind the potting shed so that they could keep an eye on Cloud and straighten themselves up should Elmyra come home early. Aerith praised him thoroughly, her skirt up around her thighs and her boots digging into the sod. 

The sweet feeling he left in her hips softened the blow when he woke up before the sun, leaving their shared bed to get dressed and to wander out into the jaws of Midgar to look for work.

Aerith stretched out her arms and watched the shadowy silhouette of him as he strapped his sword to his back. 

“Do you have to go?” She murmured.

She could feel Zack’s fondness like a pulse in the air. “You have to believe me when I say it pains me to leave someone so pretty alone in bed. But...I need to contribute for myself and Cloud,” clearly he was concerned by the food they both needed, the added expense of two extra mouths to feed. “I’ll come back to you, I swear.”

Even though his kiss was warm, Aerith found that she did not like her bed so cold, now that she was used to his heat. 

“I believe you.” He had yet to fail her on that. 

Though it felt selfish to want him close by constantly, she would never let Zack know her true feelings when it clearly hurt his mind to sit fallow at her mother’s home. Knowing exactly what Elmyra would say if Aerith provided her confidence-- “He loves you and he’ll do anything for you...but you know this will be better for him. For all of us really,”--Cloud became a welcome and attentive confidant as Aerith worked in the garden.

He no longer needed support when walking through the grounds, though his steps were slow and shuffling, and sometimes Aerith swore he was actually taking in his surroundings rather than just staring blankly. 

“I’m so greedy, aren’t I, Cloud?” Aerith said as she wiped sweat from her forehead. “I thought Zack was gone. But now he’s come back and I think...it will never be enough for me. Maybe I should become a mercenary too!” The thought delighted her as she clipped through lily stems. “But I had  _ just  _ accepted that maybe he...wasn’t coming back to me. It would be so hard…”  _ Unbearable  _ really to lose him again.

Cloud looked at her, melancholy and sweet, as if he too understood how terrible it would be to lose Zack. Aerith was overcome with fondness for him.

“Ah, best not to think about it, right? Can you hand me those ribbons?” Aerith asked errantly. It was worth a try and she liked to include Cloud in her one-sided conversations. She did not actually expect him to hand her the ribbons; the most he would do was hold whatever she placed in his hands. 

Aerith almost leapt out of her skin as the spools of ribbons dropped onto her lap and she looked up, with a racing heartbeat to see Cloud swaying slightly, his expression one of tender confusion as he found his hands empty.

“Oh! Thank you!”

Her heart was still beating, swift and amazed, as comprehension seemed to take hold in Cloud’s startlingly blue eyes. Gentle fingers touched her cheek for a split second before Cloud wandered back to his normal spot and closed his eyes to nap in the sun.


	5. Wake Unto Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly set up for some big stuff in chapters 6 and 7 but I did fulfill some requests from the comments at the very end! Also part of me thinks that Elmyra 1000% knows that Aerith and Zack are feeling each other up at any given opportunity and just decides to leave the house on occasion so that they can bang with the doors open haha! They are not sneaky.
> 
> I have been drawn inexorably into Zelda: Breath of the Wild as of late so we'll see how much I can write while I'm playing 8 hours on the switch every night. Enjoy!

A man of Zack’s size and skills could find work easily in the slums of Midgar and Aerith and Elmyra seemed wholly unsurprised when he returned that very evening with new tales of mercenary work and a handful of gil to show for his troubles. The gil glittered on the table, the same color as Cloud’s hair. 

“I started off in Wall Market like you suggested and a couple locals there sent me to Sector 7 to deliver a message.” Even though he was a country hick, Zack found that he did not mind Wall Market as much as some other visitors who seemed to scurry around on tenterhooks. As big, strong, and easy with his smiles as he was, everyone in Wall Market had been delighted to meet his acquaintance and he had seen some very beautiful dresses in shop windows that would look stunning on Aerith once he had the proper funds.

“And who would have thought, in a city so big, but I met someone I...I knew from when I was a SOLDIER. She set me up with some steady work.” He knew his expression was a little guilty as he spooned curry into Cloud’s open mouth. “Dangerous but...steady.”

Just looking at Cloud reminded him of that person they both knew. 

He had seen her long, dark hair, that sweet, determined set of her smile and had felt his stomach drop to his toes. He was sickened with guilt remembering the last time he had seen this woman; destiny had to be at play for the fact that he had run into her after so long and in a city the size of Midgar. He _had_ to make amends. 

Elmyra looked between the two of them, her expression guarded. “So long as you keep the danger far from here. I won’t have anyone waging war in my front yard, SOLDIER or no.” Zack gave a mock salute by way of a promise before turning back to Aerith. 

“And? Did you miss me?” He was cheeky, his good humor at an all-time high after being out running around and burning off energy. 

“Maybe.” Aerith pointedly dodged the sweet words he so obviously wanted and it made him want to kiss her on the mouth. At least he had the common sense now to wait until after dinner; Angeal would have rolled his eyes over Zack’s slow increase of self control, but it was an increase nonetheless.

Just thinking of his mentor and friend had a strange mix of fondness and sadness swirling in Zack’s chest. He smiled against the wet, soft skin of Aerith’s inner thigh and she must have felt it, because Zack felt gentle hands in his black spikes a half-second later.

“Happy?”

“Now? Very.” Zack said after licking her once more. “If this paid as well as mercenary work, I’d do it all day.”

“How _was_ the mercenary work?”

Zack thought of the woman in Sector Seven, the feeling of vague nausea returning with force. He pressed his nose and mouth into the fresh, lily-scented expanse of Aerith’s skin, hoping that breathing her in would settle him. “It...doesn’t pay as well as I’d hoped,” he _could_ find better work but...he had a debt to repay, “but it won’t be an every day gig. I can find other stuff on off days. They’re a good group though.” He agreed with their hatred of Shinra, if anything. 

“Let me know if they need to go incognito as flower sellers on the plate. I offer up my expert advice and services at a premium but I’m willing to make exceptions for very cute SOLDIERS.”

“Tempting.” Zack yanked himself up so that he could kiss Aerith’s mouth. “I’ve heard it’s not good to mix business and pleasure.” 

He would never say it aloud for fear of offending her, but Zack would do all he could to keep Aerith from his mercenary work. He’d seen enough danger in his twenty-some years of life to know that he wanted his profession nowhere near the woman he loved.

“Mmm. Well I do have some good news from today: I asked Cloud to grab me things in the garden today and he actually got up and gave me what I asked for. Like...he didn’t just _hold_ what I handed him; he actually got up and gave them to me.” Aerith was beaming with pride as she looked toward the open door where Cloud’s blond spikes were visible in the moonlight. 

“Did he?” Zack was so delighted, he could feel his cheeks glowing. There was a chance, there was _hope_ that... “Do you think--?”

“He...he looked like he understood me. I think he’s getting better, Zack. I really do. He’s going to wake up, I can feel it.” She kissed Zack’s cheeks and mouth. “Can’t wait to meet him.”

“He’s real sweet.” Zack allowed himself to hope, trusting Aerith with the part of his heart that loved sweet, shy Cloud and missed his presence. 

When he was absolutely sure Aerith was deep in dreams, Zack slipped out from the circle of her arms and went over to Cloud. Crouching next to the bed, Zack stroked Cloud’s cheek and hoped that all his love and hope would seep into Cloud’s skin and help him wake just a little bit faster.

Though it was an extravagance and he felt guilty for doing so, his second payment he did not immediately hand to Elmyra. Instead, Zack bought a cheap phone so that he could keep in contact with his new employers and for Aerith to reach him in case there was an emergency. His guilt over not contributing to the household was assuaged a little when he saw how relieved Aerith was when he put his number in her cheap little flip phone.

Elmyra had gone out for the day and Zack was sprawling out in the house’s bathtub. Even though it was a decent-sized bathtub, Zack was so tall that his arms and legs spilled out over the sides. Cloud they had perched just outside the door in the hallway, sleeping on a nest of pillows and blankets that Aerith had pilfered from their shared rooms. Though it was risky to bathe with the door open, both Zack and Aerith liked to look over and see that tuft of blonde. Aerith was crouched behind him digging shampoo into his spikes in a feeling that made his toes want to curl and it took all his concentration just to input the correct phone number instead of gibberish.

Careful not to drop Aerith’s phone in the sudsy water, Zack placed it on the edge of the bathroom sink and leaned back into Aerith’s touch.

“Now you can hunt me down whenever you want.” 

“How dangerous.” She laughed, green eyes sparkling. “Now I can call you to pick up milk or eggs while you’re in the middle of fighting whatever hellish creatures live in the alleys. Send you pictures when you’re in important meetings with clients.”

“What kinds of pictures?” Zack asked with all innocence. Likely any photos sent on these shitty devices would be so blurry and grainy as to be indecipherable. But...he still liked to imagine.

“So cheeky!” She elbowed him softly. “I’m going to send you photos of Cloud and I on our dates topside. No Zacks allowed.”

“ _Aerith_!” 

“Maybe that will convince you to stay here with us.” Aerith’s arms wrapped around Zack’s collar and hugged him lightly. “Those people out looking for a mercenary don’t deserve you. Not like _we_ do.”

“They do deserve it...in a way. Well one of them does. I owe her an enormous debt.”

Her village in flames, her father dead, her childhood friend taken and torn apart and put back together… Zack didn’t think he could pay her back if it took him the rest of his life. It was Shinra’s fault, Sephiroth’s fault, he knew but... a part of him felt he had to take the blame. 

“Zack?” Aerith moved so she was in his line of vision, not used to his melancholy. “Are you ok?”

“I was so naive.” Guilt gave way to a decent bit of anger and only one group could draw his ire so completely. He would hold Shinra to their sins, even if he had to do it a little bit at a time. “Aerith, I don’t know when exactly but my new employers have a mission for me and their group.”

Jessie’s eyes had been bright as she clung to his arm, explaining: one reactor down and they were feeling bold enough to try for a second reactor, this time with a SOLDIER’s power. Zack was not sure of how their small group was going to achieve something so massive as overthrowing a company that seemed to own the entire planet but they held the gold and did not pay him for his opinions. 

“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” Aerith rested her cheek against the white porcelain of the tub, the tips of her bangs dangling in the water. Her following smile was quite brave. “You attract trouble, don’t you? Trouble like me.”

With no warning, Aerith slid into the bathtub, onto Zack’s lap, causing water to spill over the sides onto the tile. At least it startled Zack out of his mood and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. “The most attractive trouble I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re not going to tell me about the job though, huh?” 

“You’ll probably figure it out.” Zack leaned forward to lightly clamp his teeth on her collar, pleased at the rosy half-moon crescent it left on her skin. “But...in case Rude comes knocking, you can claim ignorance.”

Aerith rested her index finger on the corner of her mouth, cheeky even in her secrecy. “I’ll be the picture of innocence. But you can call me if you’re in trouble. I’ll come running to the rescue. Got a stock of Cures saved up.” She was light, joking, but Zack had a feeling she would run to his aid if he asked her to. He’d like to see her crack Shinra grunts upside the head with her staves.

“Deal. I’ll call you if there’s an emergency. Like...if I’m hurt or lonely or I want to hear your pretty voice.” Aerith splashed him and then squeaked as he squeezed her backside. “Or if I find work in a Wall Market bathhouse.” Several very nice gentlemen had suggested jobs for him there, though he had politely turned them down.

“Seems like more of a private service, no? And _messy_!” She exclaimed as Zack shifted her closer and more water poured over the edges of the tub.

“I’m a SOLDIER for hire. I’ll clean your bathroom for the right price.”

Part of Zack had been joking when he had said he would only call Aerith for emergencies. However, it seemed that she had taken it more to heart and only used messaging to update Zack on her days when he was out. He liked the photos she sent him of Cloud, looking dazed and sweet wherever Aerith had taken him.

He recognized the two of them on the glitzy corner of the plate, Cloud holding two frothing baskets, or sitting outside the Sector Five orphanage weaving crowns and necklaces out of blooms. Zack was relieved beyond measure to see that the two people he loved most were safe and living fairly uneventful lives.

So when Zack was at the bar in Sector Seven planning their upcoming attack and Aerith actually called his cell phone, he knew something was terribly wrong. 

Zack felt cold the moment he answered the phone.

“Zack! Zack! Come quickly!” Aerith’s voice was tinny through the cheap speakers but her frantic tone had Zack’s mako blood pumping at full speed. Thoughts of thugs or monsters or--worst of all--Shinra cornering her and Cloud unaware had him in such a fury, he felt as though he would bend the handle of his buster sword. “It’s Cloud.”

“Where are you?” Zack’s voice sounded foreign to his own ears. He was stressed, angry, _scared_. He would rather be taken back into Shinra custody than to see Aerith and Cloud get hurt in his stead. “Aerith, I’m coming. Where are you?”

“We’re in the church! Cloud, he--”

There was a yelp from Aerith and the line went dead.

Zack almost let the phone slip from his hands but he caught it before it hit the wood floor of the bar. His expression must have been alarming because all of his new ‘coworkers’ tensed when they saw his face.

“Zack?” 

“Are you ok, bro? You look--”

“Zack? Is everything alright?” Her red-brown eyes were soft with concern and Zack thought of how terrible it would be to tell her that her dear friend was so close and had been lost to Shinra yet again. 

It would be all his fault again. 

“I have to go--I have to--back to Sector Five!” He moved so quickly that he knocked his chair over and his companions skittered back. Zack had always known that they were fearful of his SOLDIER power, though they hid it well, but now the fear was evident. SOLDIERs were loose cannons, even SOLDIERS as amiable and . 

She was the first to recover though Zack noticed her arms were still tense and defensive. “Go. If you have an emergency, please. We’ll contact you if we need anything else--”

Zack nodded, already halfway out the door of the bar. 

He ran back to Sector 5 in a straight line, even though it meant running over roofs, jumping over walls, and creating paths of his own with a careful slice through debris and rusted metal. Though the train technically could move a little faster than he could run, Zack beat it back to the Sector 5 slums station, his adrenaline pushing back any fatigue in his muscles.

It was just enough time to travel that his rudimentary imagination could provide the worst case scenarios. 

Roving thugs or monsters falling on a helpless Cloud, tearing him to pieces. Cloud falling into some kind of rage and attacking Aerith. Or Shinra, worst of all, finding them both and carting them away before Zack could get there. His lungs were on fire as he shouldered completely through the doors of the church, knocking one entirely off of its hinges in a cloud of dust.

His sword was drawn before he had fully taken in the scene in front of him. 

There were no thugs, no monsters, no Shinra grunts or Turks; just the soft, homey glow of the church. Aerith was there--a pink beacon from where she was half crouched behind one of the overturned pews, hands held out defensively in front of her. When she heard the sound of the door falling, she turned and relief was clear on her face, even from a distance.

“ _Zack!_ ”

His relief was unspeakable at seeing her safe and his next instinct was to look for Cloud. It did not take long.

The voice was soft and a bit raspy from lack of use but it was even dearer for how long it had been since Zack had last heard it. “Zack?”

Cloud had been floating in a blank expanse.

He had been plagued for what seemed like eons with nightmares. Terrible flames surrounding him on all sides, dead bodies littering the streets. He swore he recognized some of them which was...so much worse. Then came the nightmares of the sterile, terrible doctors who stripped him down, cut him open, and poured poison into the open caverns of his body. He screamed for the pain, screamed for help but they watched him impassively, as if they were creatures of ice, and they called him weak, the weaker of the two, the more likely to succumb. 

Then some terrible wraith with hungry green eyes put his hands on Cloud, his black, polluted fingers trying to sink beneath Cloud’s skin looking for an opening, any weakness. Over every inch of him they probed, looking for a crack in Cloud’s defenses; the haunted thing grinned, even when Cloud did not give in. It faded away knowing that even though Cloud had _not_ succumbed to whatever horror had wanted to take hold in his mind and body, he would not be the same. 

He was fucked up.

And so when he heard a warm familiar voice and the nightmares abruptly ceased, he was in no hurry to wake immediately. He wanted to stay and float and rest in this pleasant nothingness. It was slow for Cloud to find the strength to wake and once he felt hands on him, it was enough.

The touch was gentle, the woman who recoiled from him in shock looked not at all like his nightmares, but her eyes were _green_ and Cloud was fucked up, terrified, out of his mind. It was worse because he was awake and lucid, which would make the pain more acute. He’d kill the mystery woman, kill himself before he would let them continue to invade his body with needles and knives. Amongst the flowers he was standing in, Cloud had found large scissors-- _pruning shears_ , the word came to him after a hard fight--and pressed them to his throat. 

Only two people on earth could convince him to back down, to calm down but, much to Cloud’s alarm, he could not remember their names through the thick fog of his devastated mind. It bothered him.

He was stumbling through his fractured memories, trying to recall anything other than who he was or what had been done to him, when one of the people he was trying to remember appeared almost directly in his line of vision. He recognized that tall frame in a familiar uniform, he knew the feeling of that cross-shaped scar under his thumb, those eyes that glowed such a vibrant, crackling blue, Cloud could see the color clearly, even from a distance. Just seeing the man in front of him was warmth and relief and comfort...even if his name was out of reach.

The mystery woman looked back, also relieved, hands going over her heart. “ _Zack!_ ”

Zack. Zack. Zack.

It came back to Cloud as Zack embraced him hard enough that Cloud could think clearly. The shears fell to the wooden floors as Zack kissed Cloud’s cheeks and eyelids and forehead, his touch gentle. Cloud relaxed--he always relaxed around Zack--the fear all but gone. Zack filled his eyes, surrounded his body, consumed his mind and mouth.

Zack, Zack, Zack...


End file.
